Paige Struggles With Her New, Bittersweet Commentator Role From the Sidelines on Total Divas

Paige Struggles With Her New, Bittersweet Commentator Role From the Sidelines on Total Divas

A lot has changed for the Total Divas stars.

In the season eight premiere of Total Divas, Nia Jax and others prepared to make history through the first ever Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34. In addition to this being a historic moment, there was a lot of hype surrounding Ronda Rousey joining the WWE family.

However, not everyone was able to get in on the fun. Specifically, Paige made her way down to New Orleans with the other Total Divas stars as she was slated to announce her retirement at the big event. In case you forgot, Paige was previously forced to walk away from the ring due to a severe neck injury.

“It’s kind of bittersweet ’cause I’m not gonna be wrestling due to injury,” Paige shared in a confessional. “I kind of have a secret to confess, I have to give my retirement speech after WrestleMania. I’m so sad, I made my debut here and now I have to make my retirement here.”

Since this news was embargoed information, the longtime wrestler was forced to stay tight-lipped when interacting with fans and reporters. Understandably, Paige’s transition from athlete to commentator wasn’t an easy one.

Case in point: Paige found herself growing estranged from Nia as the latter was busy preparing for her big singles match at WrestleMania.

“I’m happy for them, but I really want to be a part of this,” Paige continued to the camera. “And it makes me feel really sad and I’m just kind of sitting there being like, ‘Well I have nothing to talk about with you guys right now so…I’m just gonna be quiet.'”

In an attempt to distract from her sadness, Paige scheduled all sorts of tourist activities, including a swamp tour and a visit to a local voodoo expert. When Nia was reluctant to join in on the activities, Paige felt like her bestie was tapping out of their friendship.

“I feel like I feel bad because I have a match. I’m sorry that I can’t go around and be a tourist,” Nia halfheartedly apologized during a confrontation with Paige. “It’s not my fault I have to wrestle.”

“I can see now who my real friends are,” an upset Paige snapped. “You don’t want to be my friend because I can’t wrestle anymore, I get it.”

Eventually, the retired Britain-born athlete explained to Nia why she was so emotional in New Orleans. Per Paige, it felt like “everything is being taken away” from her and she wanted “to do stuff” to keep herself distracted.

Nia acknowledged this hardship and apologized to her dear friend. “I wish you would’ve told me that earlier,” Jax relayed. “I’m sorry I’m busy this week, but I am here for you.”

Understandably, Nia had her own stress to deal with as she was scheduled to face off against her former best friend Alexa Bliss. “It’s just a lot of pressure,” Nia confided in Paige earlier in the episode. “It’s cool, it’s just gonna be weird.”

Since the 34-year-old Australian-born athlete felt still “so new to this company,” she was stressed that her upcoming match would let both the WWE and the fans down.

“It’s a singles match! How many women can say they had a singles match at WrestleMania for the title?” Nia further worried in a confessional.

Regardless, it wasn’t just Nia’s career on the rise as Nikki Bella and Brie Bella received some exciting news regarding their Birdiebee brand. Even though the Bella Twins weren’t wrestling at the event, they did get their clothing line in the WrestleMania Superstore.

After losing their Birdiebee president, Brie decided to step up and take over the executive role. Sadly, her first act as president slightly backfired when she enlisted costar Nattie Neidhart to promote the swag.

How exactly did it backfire? Well Nattie got carried away with the promotion as she promised that the Bella Twins and Daniel Bryan would be doing a meet-and-greet at the Superstore.

The twins learned of Nattie’s false promises during a signing with fans. “Nattie gave us this flyer on Bourbon Street and said that we could hang out,” one fan told a stunned Brie and Nikki.

“I love Nattie, but I can’t help but think like, ‘Did Nattie and Brie tell people that we would hang out with fans? That we would do certain activities?'” John Cena‘s ex spilled later on. “I’m just like, ‘Wait. What is happening?'”

The Total Bellas veterans were eventually able to confront Nattie about her over eager help. According to Nikki, Nattie’s marketing strategy put Birdiebee at risk of looking “desperate,” which could’ve “hurt the brand.”

“You’re right,” the blonde WWE star admitted. “And I feel bad, I should probably not have promised…I’m sorry. I feel bad.”

Thankfully, the Bella Twins knew Nattie came from a good place and forgave her quickly.

See everything else that went down on this week’s episode in the recap video above!

Watch a brand new episode of Total Divas Wednesday at 9 p.m., only on E!